5k racing tactics

Btw the first 0.5 miles is flat. Then uphill until about halfway through the race and then the opposite so downhill and then flat the last half of a mile. I have a race tomorrow and I may try this to win my local town Labor Day 5k. I'm a junior and trying to beat my teammate who is a senior but I have more endurance he has more speed and our fitness for 5k is both around 1640-1700 right now. We are unsure because we haven't raced yet this season.

You have 2 options:

1) Run controlled, by his side for the first half mile, then hammer those uphills and try and get some separation. You'll get to recover on the downhills and hopefully have enough of a lead that he can't outback you at the end. But if you know he's got speed, you can't just wait for a kick.

2) Run controlled for 1.5m, then use the downhills to get separation and make a long, hard move in the 2nd half of the race to try and drop him.

Enough with tactics. Running isn't chess. If you're looking for tactics, that means you're slow

Thank you. And in general would a race that goes out too fast favor a runner with more endurance over a runner with more speed even if their fitness is the same or very similar for that distance?

What are your PRs buddy

It would favor the endurance guy until a point - if they're starting out so fast that they're brushing up against his sprint PRs then he's going to be tanked because he just can't go that fast and the speed guy can use that time to gain a lead and then kick again at the finish.

I'm in almost the exact same position. My friend and I are the top 2 guys on the team, and are about in 16:40-17 shape too. I'm the speed guy, and I took the first race by hanging on then out-kicking. If you want to win, surge at the two mile and drop him.